Right In Front of Your Nose All Along
by Kora
Summary: (UPDATED april 30) Becca's sixteen, Spot reveals the secret behind his key, a few newsies figure out they're related, one newsie leaves...(*sigh, coming up next week on general hospital, sigh*)
1. A Brush With Destiny

Right In Front of Your Nose All Along

_Note--this is the follow-up to the Some Kind of Bond That Cannot Be Broken Trilogy. It will make a lot more sense if you read Complete, Becoming "Angel", and The Return first, but you don't have to if you absolutely don't want to._

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Right In Front of Your Nose All Along

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Disclaimer--I don't own any of the male newsies. The girl newsies, such as Hazel, are mine, and so is Jean Kloppman, but the name Kloppman isn't mine. Yadda, Yadda, Disney owns all of that but it would be pointless to sue me 'cause all you'd get would be a handful of pennies and some old lollipops.

Author's Note: I know the chapter title is really, very cheesy, but it's all I could come up with. Any and all suggestions for a different, better, title would be very gratefully received.

By: Kora

The pencil felt cool and slippery in Becca's sweaty hand. She frowned at the paper before her, and in frustration scratched out what she had just written. Becca breathed in the humid night air as she re-adjusted the candle she had brought up on the roof with her. It was the middle of July and was much too hot in the bunkroom to concentrate, so Becca had moved up to the roof. She gazed up at the twinkling sky while her mind skimmed over the past year's events.

In two short months, it would be the first year's "anniversary" of being reunited with Jack. When winter had approached, the Lodging House filled with girl newsies, just as Jack had predicted. It fact, their numbers had so grown that Kloppman's sister opened a Newsgirl's Lodging House down the street to accommodate the numbers. At first, Becca had moved along with the rest of her female friends, but that didn't last. She missed Jack terribly--since her return, the Kelly siblings had hardly been apart. The last straw was drawn one night when Becca experienced the nightmare again. Jean Kloppman had ended up having to send Hazel to run down the street and get Jack, for he was the only one who could calm Becca down after the nightmare. The next morning, Becca moved back to the Newsboys Lodging House. 

Becca would have assumed that after her reconciliation with Rhys Sullivan, her father, that the nightmare would go away. But only part of it did, other parts remained. The memories of her mother's death, the realization that she was all alone, running through the streets, and the flailing horses hooves...those spectrums from her past had stubbornly refused to fade away all together. As for her father, he had moved to a smaller town about a day's train ride from the city. Both she and Jack had an open invitation to come and visit as long as they liked whenever they wished, but Jack wasn't that close to his father yet and Becca was still wary to leave the city. 

_'Paranoid and stupid, I know. C'mon, pull yourself together, you've been sixteen since May 25th--'_ Becca's thoughts were interrupted by an array of shouts from below. Becca smiled to herself while fondly thinking of all the guys. Sixteen, and still the youngest girl, and the little sister. In fact, Dave was the only one of the guys older than she who didn't treat her like a little sister. Over this past year, she and Davey had grown very close. He was her "best guy friend" as Hazel, her other best friend, put it. She and Davey had so much in common that the others had begun joking about them being separated at birth.

_'I wonder if he'll come tonight,' _Becca thought. _'I know he's real busy with school, but it is a Friday night.'_ As if one cue, a figure appeared in the middle of the roof. He climbed out of the trap door and sat down next to Becca. "Hey."

"Hi. Why'd you come up through the trap door? The fire escape's much easier."

"Yeah, but to get to the window, I'd have to crawl through and over about 40 newsies all crammed into one room." Dave saw Becca grin in the candlelight. 

"That's what happens when it's our turn to host the monthly Brooklyn-Manhattan poker game." Davey nodded in agreement and glanced down at the paper in Becca's lap.

"Writing?"

"Yeah, well, I was. I'm done now. Here," Becca folded the paper up and handed it to Davey, who took it and stuck it in his pocket. It had become their custom since Dave had gone back to school for Becca to write something and give it to Davey, who would read it over, tweak it to perfection, then give it back. Becca's education was fairly good, but she insisted that Dave be her "editor", as she had jokingly dubbed him. 

Becca watched Davey tuck the paper away. _'It's so sweet of him to go over my writing for me, with all the work I'm sure he was to do. He's gotta be busy, we only get to see him on weekends and a few nights a week.'_ Davey looked back up to see Becca studying him. The locked eyes, warm brown drowning in cool blue. They started to draw closer when another outburst from downstairs broke the silence, and the moment. Becca quickly pulled back and reddened slightly, although one couldn't tell because they were both fairly flushed from the heat. 

"Never a dull moment." Davey commented, receiving a soft laugh from Becca. The awkward moment passed and the two continued on as if nothing had happened. They discussed Dave's schooling. 

"Tell me again, I forgot. Why, exactly, are you going to school in the summer?"

"To make up for the time I lost at the beginning of the school year last year as Papa's arm was still healing. There's usually a couple of schools that run in the summer for kids who miss time during the year because they have to work due to their parents getting injured. It's not that uncommon."

"Oh." The two went on as they watched the star-studded night sky. Becca told Davey the Greek myths about the constellations she pointed out, while Dave informed her about the things he learned about the same sky in astronomy class. After an hour passed, the candle gave out. "I'll take that as a sign that it's getting late and we'd better go in."

"I guess so. My parents'll want me home soon, anyway."

"Can'tya stay tonight?"

"No. My parents and Sarah all have to leave for work early tomorrow. Somebody's gotta be there with Les. We'll swing by Tibby's for lunch, how's that?"

"Great." Dave helped Becca up. They stood, and their eyes found one another's again. They both leaned in closer and their lips had just barely grazed each other's when Davey pulled back.

"Um, I'd better going." Becca nodded, heart pounding. Dave climbed down the fire escaped and off into the night. A few moments later, Becca followed him, only she went in through the window.

***

The assembled newsies inside heard a clattering as someone climbed down the fire escape. They watched as Davey took off, heading back home. "Ain't he comin' in ta say goodnight?" Mush asked to no one in particular. 

"Guess not." Specs answered. Not much later, Becca came down as well. She crawled through the window and headed top speed towards her room when Jack stopped her.

"Hey Becky?" When she turned around, Spot noted the scarlet hue to her heat-flushed face.

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Whereya goin'?"

"Bed."

"Oh. Okay. G'night."

"Night!" Becca called over her shoulder as she briskly walked down the hallway. Curiously, Jack turned to Spot, who had a small, knowing smile on his face.

"Did somet'in happen up t'ere?"

"No," Spot replied. "Nuttin' but a brush wit' destiny."

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Note: I just wrote this last night and this morning. I really don't have much of an idea what I'm doing with this, I'm just writing it off the top of my head, so that explains why it's so bad. Please review, tell me what you think, any constructive criticism would be great, what I should do next, that sort of thing. Thanks!


	2. Growing Up

Chapter 2 __

Note: I have never, ever, written anything like romance before, I'm an action/adventure/fantasy/maybe a little drama and humor writer. So this is sounding more at more like a soap opera (at least to me), so if you get disgusted because this is too cheesy teeny-bopper movie/soap opera-ish, that's why. If it is, tell me, and if you could, please tell me how I can fix it to make it better, because I have no idea what I'm doing. K? Thanks! Oh and don't let this note scare you--please still r/r!

Also, thank you to everyone who reviewed the first chapter! It really encouraged me a lot--I was going to write personal thank you emails but I could find everyone's email address and others there were a couple of different people with the same name and I didn't want to email the wrong person, so thank you sooooooo much!

Chapter 2

Becca paced back and forth, talking to herself in a low tone, going a mile a minute. "I'm the little sister, the little sister, I could get Dave killed if any of the guys find out, they're all so overprotective, and Jack's in a category all to himself…but I'm also sixteen, I can't stay unkissed forever…what am I thinking? This is Davey here, David Jacobs, my best friend, he doesn't like me, not that way, anyway. You saw how fast he pulled back, but I probably would have pulled back just as fast. It's the heat, that's what it is, people get weird, strange, don't think straight in this kind of heat, you saw it all the time in Santa Fe…" 

***

Hazel, Becca's barely 17-year-old best friend watched Spot watch Becca take off down the hallway. She twisted her fingers in her shoulder-length dirty-blond hair, something she always did when she was thinking. She saw the smile play out on Spot's lips, and heard him saying something about a brush and destiny to Jack. What did a brush and destiny have to do with her best friend? Hazel waited until Jack turned to Racetrack, then she got up and sat down next to Spot. 

"Alright, Conlon. You know somethin' th' rest of us don't know," Hazel was new to New York from Philadelphia, and had an accent that ranged between the two cities, "and you'd better tell me, 'specially since it has to do with my best friend." Spot stiffened at Hazel's demanding tone and glared warningly into the girl's eyes--the color from which she had gotten her newsie nickname.

"What makes ya t'ink t'at I know anyt'in, oah t'at if I do, t'at Ise jus' gonna tell ya, 'specially when you got t'at at'itude?"

"'Cause I'm tellin' ya, Spot" _(hehe I couldn't resist)_ Spot paused a moment, then smirked. 

"Why're askin' me? Why dontcha go in t'ere aftah hoir and find out foisthand?" Hazel thought about this for a moment, then stood up and walked over to two other girl newsies, close friends of hers and Becca's. 

"Clover, Ebony," the aforementioned look up and saw Hazel jerk her head in the direction that Becca had disappeared to. They nodded, and excused themselves, with Hazel in the lead, Clover behind her, and Ebony bringing up the rear. _(we're going to take a brief interlude as I give some descriptions for our two new characters, k?)_ Clover was 17 and had curly rust red-brown hair that fell down just past her shoulders. Her green-grey eyes were contemplative and compassionate, showing that her heart was much larger than her petite frame seemed able to hold. Her real name was Erin O'Connell, her family hailing from the lush green shores of Erie, or Ireland. But Clover herself was born and raised in New York City, although somewhere between her parent's accents and New York accents, she had turned out with no accent at all. _(mainly because I can't write Irish accents, and I don't feel like having another character with a New York accent. So I'm lazy, sue me)_ The one thing she did get from the country of her ancestors, however, was her newsie nickname.

Ebony was barely 18 and named for her inky hair that rubbed the tips of her shoulders. Her eyes were deep blue and picked up every movement from every corner of the room. She was tall, taller than Becca, as tall as most of the guys her age. Ebony was completely opposite from Clover and Becca in many way, very short in temper (Clover), and she was as street-smart as they came (Becca). However, she had taken an instant liking to the two and Hazel, and the four had become fast friends. _(okay, now we can get back to the story)_ Hazel, Clover, and Ebony made it to Becca's room just in time to hear her mutter, "you saw it all the time in Santa Fe."

"Saw what all the time in Santa Fe?" Clover asked softly. Becca's head whirled around and body tensed as she heard the voice, but relaxed when she saw who the source was. Usually, she would have heard them coming _(Becca has that weird kind-of almost sixth sense thing without getting all psychic, kinda like that weird thing Xena does when she can hear people coming and knows when Ares is gonna show up, like that)_ but she had been too wrapped up in her thoughts to notice.

"Nothing." Becca sighed in self-exasperation and flopped down on her bed. 

"I t'ought youse was goin' ta bed." Ebony said gently, sitting down next to Becca. 

"I am in bed, aren't I?" came a muffled voice from beneath a pillow. Of the three, only Hazel knew how to deal with Becca when she was in this mood. She moved swiftly over to the side of the bed and snatched the pillow off of Becca's head. 

"Somethin' happened on that roof and you're going to tell us. So spill." Becca set her jaw stubbornly, then sighed and spilled.

"What I saw all the time in Santa Fe was people acting…not exactly themselves because of the heat. It makes you go kinda crazy and you don't think straight."

"Did Davey do something out of character?" Clover's quiet voice was patiently understanding. 

"No--not really, I mean, I don't know!" Becca threw her hands up in frustration and proceeded to get up and lean against the wall and rub her lips absentmindedly. 

"He didn't hoit ya, did he? 'Cuz if he did…" Ebony stood up and her eyes took a dangerous hue. Hazel let out a small laugh.

"Davey hurt Becca? Ebony, think about it. Dave's almost as passive as Clover, no offense,"

"None taken."

"An' he's also smart, the smartest outta all of those guys out there. He knows that if he laid a finger on Becca," Hazel put her arms around the younger Kelly's shoulders, "our Becca'd soak the stuffin' outta him. An' then he'd have every newsie in Manhattan, plus a few from Brooklyn, includin' the infamous Spot Conlon, on his tail. An' by the time we'd all be done with him, there'd be nothin' left 'cept a pile of charred, smokin' bones."

Ebony and Clover laughed at Hazel's proclamation, but Becca kept staring off into space while playing with her lip. Hazel drew back and squinted at Becca. Recognition lit up her eyes, "he kissed you, didn't he?" Clover and Ebony jumped up, joy sparkling in their eyes. This question snapped Becca out of her trance.

"What? No!" Hazel stared into her best friend's eyes, her own eyes clearly saying _'uh-huh, whatever.'_ "Well, yes, no, not really."

"Not really? He either kissed you or he didn't." Clover's voice was clearly excited. Usually she was passive, but her hyper side broke free when it came to one thing--boys. It wasn't like she was boy-crazy, but she had had her share of boyfriends, and kisses. In fact, all of the girls in the Lodging House, more tough and street-smart than the innocent Becca, had had at least a couple boyfriends. Many were beginning to wonder if Becca ever would, but she stood firm. "If it happens, it happens. But I'm not gonna go out there looking for a boyfriend, I've got better things to do. 'Sides, he's going to be one of my friends first, and that's that." she'd always said.

"Becca, t'is is poifect!" Ebony exclaimed _(arg this is really starting to sound like a cheesy teeny-bopper movie. Sigh. One day I'm gong to learn how to write the perfect combo of action/adventure/drama with a hint of romance that isn't in the slightest bit teeny-bopper, but until then, this will have to do.)_ "He's yoah best friend!"

"Best GUY friend," Hazel interjected.

"Whatevah. Anway, it's poifect!"

"Perfect? You guys are acting like he asked me to marry him or something! That's not what happened, you're thinking the wrong thing!" Becca was obviously upset, and her voice showed it. Hazel heard the borderline panic in her best friend's voice, and she waved her hands at Clover and Ebony. 

"Whoa, guys, calm down." She lowered her voice to a whisper. "She's new ta all this, remember? And she's also the conservative, romantic type. She ain't gonna kiss a guy just ta kiss a guy. She's gotta really like him, and she's never liked someone that way before either." Ebony and Clover quickly sobered as they realized the truth in Hazel's words. The dirty-blonde newsie steered Becca over to the bed and sat her down, keeping her arms around Becca's shoulders. Ebony sat next to Becca, and Clover behind her.

"If we're thinkin' the wrong thing," Hazel continued, now speaking to Becca, "it's only 'cause you haven't told us anythin'. Now, you said somethin' 'bout people not actin' themselves in the heat. Did he take it back?"

"No." was the brief, sullen answer.

"Then what happened?" Clover's voice had returned to its normal, gentler tone. Becca took a deep breath and let it out. Shakily, she proceeded to tell her friends about what had happened on the roof. How they had talked about various subjects, as usual.

"Then the candle went out. We could still see well enough to see each other and around the roof and everything, with the street lamps. I only brought the candle up because I didn't want to strain my eyes while I was writing. Anyway, he helped me up, and we were kinda close, and he started looking at me the way he had earlier. The same, normal way he always looks at me, but there was something…different." The others murmured in understanding and Becca went on. "Then, I don't know, it wasn't really a kiss, kiss. It was more like a brush."

Something in the back of Hazel's mind clicked. _'A brush with destiny! I'm gonna have ta have a little chat with Conlon later.'_

"Then he drew back, but I probably would have too. I think I was gonna, I don't know, it all happened so fast and my heart was pounding and--"

"It's okay, we understand." Becca smiled gratefully at Hazel.

"I think he got a little red, but then I did too, but I couldn't really tell because of the heat, anyway, then he said he had to go and he left." Becca's voice started to waver. "That's when I came inside."

"Are ya upset t'at he left so abruptly?" Ebony questioned.

"No…it's not that. I'm not mad or upset at him at all. I'm mad and upset at myself."

"Why? For what?" Clover was visibly concerned, as were Ebony and Hazel.

"I'm mad that I'm so confused! I've never not known how I felt about something before. Davey's just my friend, and I'm just his friend, and I don't know how I feel about him now. I mean, I almost practically kissed him, aren't I supposed to feel different? I mean, I do feel different, but I feel confused, not how you're supposed to feel when you go to kiss a guy! Does this mean that I'm still just his friend, or am I supposed to be more, or what?" A few tears of frustration trickled down Becca's cheek. The others waited for her to calm down some before speaking. 

"Becca, you're bound to feel confused. As you said, it all happened so fast. Before we can give you any advice, if you want it," Becca nodded her head vigorously at Clover, "then you're going to have to answer one thing for us. That almost-kiss up there, what do you want it to have meant? Do you want it to have been just the head and some hormonal attraction, or do you want it to have meant something?"

"I don't care." Becca dried her eyes. "I just want to know where me'n Davey stand. Right when he left, things were so awkward between us, even more so when we first met. I hated it! I just want to be comfortable around him again." Ebony, Hazel, and Clover smiled knowingly at each other, but Becca was too absorbed in looking down at her hands to notice. Hazel picked up where Clover had left off.

"Then you gotta talk to him. It's th' only way. Find out how he feels, and proceed from there. Make sure he knows that what you really want is ta feel comfortable around him, an' that he shouldn't do anythin' that's gonna make the both of you too uncomfortable." Becca nodded, and her friends hugged her.

"It's gettin' late," Ebony stated, "an' it's a whole lot quietah out t'ere. Sounds like Kloppman musta come and hollahed at awl of t'em ta get ta bed. So's wese bettah be goin'. You okay? Ya need any of us ta stay heah?"

"No, I'm fine. And thanks."

"No poiblem." Becca hugged each one of them again before they left. She waited until she heard them talking with the guys out in the bunkroom, then she got up, shut the door, and turned out the light. She got into the bed, and while hugging a pillow, waited for sleep to come.

***

The other newsies were just cleaning up after Kloppman had come up and told them that they had to be getting to bed when Ebony, Hazel, and Clover came out into the main bunkroom. "So what's goin' on?" Jack asked.

"Nothin'" Hazel answered.

"C'mon, Hazel, you guys were in t'ere foah thoity minutes and Becca said she was goin' ta bed. T'at ain't nuttin'."

"I'ts goil talk, Cowboy. Borin' old goil stuff," Ebony replied. Jack was going to retort when he was interrupted by agreement with Ebony from the other girl newsies in the room, and by Racetrack.

"She's right, Cowboy. It's goil stuff. Sutff t'at us men ain't nevah gonna know oah undastand, so don't even botha." Jack's face was stubborn.

"Ise still goin' in t'ere ta say goodnight." The others shrugged in apathy, and after saying their final goodbyes, the Brooklyn and Manhattan girl newsies took their leave. The Manhattan Newsboys prepared themselves for bed as Jack walked as silently as he could down the hallway. He slowly opened the door to Becca's room, and peered inside to see her lying in her bed. He went softly over to her side, and noticed that she was still awake.

"Heya, big bro."

"Heya, lit'le sis." Jack paused, then asked, "Ya do know t'at you can always tell me anyt'in, right?"

"Yes, of course I do." Jack felt relieved.

"Well, just so you don't forget. I love ya, Becky." He leaned down and kissed her forehead, as he did every night.

"Love you too, Jack." Jack smiled in the dark, then got up and left to get ready for bed.

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Tell me what you think! Once again, I have no idea what I'm doing so I need to know how corny this sounds, and how to make it better. So please review and tell me!


	3. The Plot Thickens...

Chapter 3 __

Okay, so the plot doesn't exactly thicken all that much in this chapter, but it was the only title I could come up with.

Chapter 3

Davey furiously chided himself, voice echoing in the empty streets. "Good job, real good job. She probably hates you now. Well, not really, but she won't be talking to you for awhile now. Did you see that look in her eyes when you left? She's never looked that confused before, ever. She's not going to know how to act around you anymore now. Why did you have to kind-of kiss her? Either kiss her or not at all--with that brush she won't know what to think.

"Becca's so naïve and innocent, she's never been in a situation like this before, normally if a guy kissed her she wouldn't know what to think or do but when you go and confuse her like that, it's even worse…" Davey trailed off as he approached his building. Sighing, he trudged up the stairs to his apartment.

***

Hazel asked Clover to tell Jean (Kloppman) that she might be a bit late coming in, but she had something important to do. She jogged through the group of Brooklyn newsies heading home until she was walking alongside Spot. In the dim light, Hazel's features weren't discernable, and Spot thought that Hazel was just another one of his newsies until she spoke.

"How much do you know, Conlon? An' for how long?" Spot managed to contain his surprise to an internal jump, so that he newsies wouldn't see their fearless leader startled. He turned to Hazel.

"What is it now, goil?"

"I've got a name. Use it, that's what it's for."

"Alright, Hazel. What do ya want?" Instead of answering the Brooklyn newsie leader, Hazel decided to go off on a tangent, if for no other reason than to annoy him.

"Why is it that you've always been so contemptuous towards me, Conlon?"

"Why is it t'at you've always bin so contemptuous to me?"

"What, I've refused to fall all over you like all th' other girls in this city, is that why you don't like me?" Spot made an irritated sound.

"Can we just get back ta how much and how long Ise known whatevah Ise know?"

"That there's somethin' goin' own 'tween Dave and Becca."

"T'ere ain't hardly nuttin' goin' on 'tween t'ose two. But from t'e look on Becca's face when she came inside eoiliah, I knew t'at Dave finally made a move. But I also know t'at it wasn't much." Hazel was stunned. Spot really did make it a point to know about everything that went on.

"Wait, Dave _finally_ made a move, what--"

"Why don't ya ask him yoahself? Why don't you go talk ta t'e Mouth tamorrow an' I'll go talk wit' Angel?" Hazel twisted her hair. She wanted to know more, now, but this was probably all she was going to get out of Spot and, besides, it was very late.

"Alright, Conlon, you've got a deal."

"Who said anyt'in 'bout me makin' a deal wit' youse--" Spot was unable to finish because Hazel rolled her eyes and stalked off in the direction of her Lodging House. Spot smirked as he watched her go.

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Alright, I know, this chapter is boring and dull (at least I thought it was) but it's one of those necessary chapters. They're slow, but they're necessary for the story to continue. That's why I posted this chapter along with the next one. So please read on!


	4. A Decision and A Key

Chapter 4 __

I know, yet another real stupid chapter title, but I'm horrible at writing titles and the chapter title doesn't affect the story much so it doesn't really matter.

Chapter 4

Dave was eating breakfast as he heard a pounding on his door. He got up quickly to answer it, not wanting the loud noise to wake up Les. "Hazel! Aren't you supposed to be out selling?"

"I can afford to miss a little time. This shouldn't take long. So Dave, you're gonna tell me how long, and you're gonna tell me now!" Dave put a finger to his lips (trying to ignore the memories that the action stirred up), and gestured towards the slumbering Les. Hazel winced slightly. "Sorry."

Davey heaved an internal sigh. He knew Hazel would go straight to Spot as soon as she found out what happened last night, and he would drop her a few tantalizing bits of information, just enough to make her so curious that she had to come here and find out more. "Tell me what you know, and I'll fill in the rest."

"I know what happened up there on that roof, I know Becca's feelings towards it," Dave felt his stomach lurch.

"How does Becca feel about it?" he asked urgently. Hazel looked Dave straight in the eyes, clearly annoyed that she had been interrupted, but not as angry as she seemed.

"That's for her ta tell ya, not me. I know that Spot knows way more about this whole thing than he choices to say, but I do know that he said somethin' like you finally made your move. How long have ya had a thing for my best friend?"

"Our best friend. And practically since she got here."

"So as long as you've known her?" Hazel's voice raised as loud as it could get without waking up Les. "An' she's never known? How can you like her an' be her best guy friend at the same time?" The girl newsie's hard face softened when she saw the upset, distraught, and hurt look on Davey's visage.

"At the very beginning, it was infatuation, the type you get for a person when you don't really know them, but are attracted to them. Then, as I got to know her better, I buried those feelings and concentrated on being her friend, and we became real close. We are just friends, and if that's all that we ever are, than that's all that we ever are. I thought that my initial feelings--the ones that I had buried--had faded. Last night…something happened…I don't know…but I do know for certain that because of me, she's confused and upset and that's one of the last things I ever want to do to her." Davey fell heavily into his seat. Hazel put a hand on his shoulder.

"You're a good person, David, an' a good friend. Not just ta Becca, but ta me an' the rest of us. Now, you've got ta go tell her what you just tol' me. I've gotta go, but I hope that when ya come ta lunch today, you'll talk ta her. She's not mad, just confused, like ya said."

"Thanks, Hazel."

"No prob., Jacobs."

***

Spot waited outside The Café for Becca. It was almost lunchtime, and she should be heading off to Tibby's any moment. A second later, that moment came. 

Becca didn't seem too surprised to see Spot. He'd been hanging around Manhattan as of late, as if he was anticipating something. "Hey, Spot."

"Heya, Angel." Spot slung an arm around Becca's shoulders and they walked down the street together. "So, how's it been goin' wit' you lately?" The 16-year-old knew that Spot had more in mind than just the casual polite interest in how things were going with her. A puckish smile crept upon Becca's face and she answered him.

"You really wanna know, Spot?" she asked in a sugar-coated voice. "Well, it's kinda personal, so how 'bout I make you a proposition? You tell me a secret of yours, and I'll tell you my secret." Becca was aware that Spot knew what had happened on the roof last night, but she also knew that he'd play along with her. The respected and famous Spot Conlon did have a soft spot, and she happened to be part of it.

"Alright, I'll agree ta t'at, but only cuz you're practically my lit'le sistah. See ti's key heah, t'e one t'at I always got on me?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it don't open no door ta some secret room in t'e Lodgin' House. My Grandfat'ah Conlon gave it ta me a few months befoah he died it t'at fiah t'at also killed my parents." Becca nodded sympathetically. She knew about the fire, it had happened right around the time her mother died. The last time she and Jack had seen Spot before the whole Refuge/orphanage incident was the night after the fire. He had come to tell them goodbye, that he might not ever see them again because he was running away, not about to be carted off to some orphanage. 

"Anyway, my grandpa told me t'at t'is wasn't a key to some lock or nuttin' like t'at. It was a key ta t'e mind, ta spark my imagination oah somet'in like t'at. Ya gotta undastand somet'in 'bout my grandpa, he was t'e real creative type, kinda like you. In fact, sometimes, 'specially when youse writing oah singin', you reminds me of him. My grandpa was always tellin' stories and actin' 'em out foah me. He was a real great man, my grandpa." Spot paused, swallowing the swell of emotions that had bubbled up to his chest and throat. "So, whatta 'bout you, what's yoah secret?" Becca grinned devilishly.

"Well, Spot, I'd tell you, but I think you already know." Her expression softened. "But if you want me to come up with something else, I will." Spot, who was back to his normal self, declined.

"Naw, I'd say we're 'bout even now. 'Sides, wese almost ta Tibby's, and when we get t'ere, you'll have somet'in more impoitent ta do." Becca cast Spot a puzzled look, who shook his head and answered cryptically. "I ain't sayin' a woid. You'll just have ta wait and see."

__

Yes, this chapter was boring and dull too. I promise that it will get better *crosses fingers and mutters "I hope, I hope, I hope* Please r/r, and tell me what I can do to make this better!


	5. Serenity

Chapter 5

Chapter 5: Serenity

Jack, Mush, and Kid Blink entered Tibby's to see Davey sitting at a table. A pencil was in his hand, which he held poised a few inches in the air above a sheet of paper that was before him. A dazed look adorned his face. Les sat beside him, utterly bored. When Les spied his hero, a bright smile burst forth on his features and he ran over to Jack's side. "Cowboy!"

"Hey, Les." Jack pointed to Dave. "What's wrong with him?"

"I dunno. He's been like that evah since he started reading whatevah's on that paper." Mush, Blink, Jack and Les went over to the table and sat down. They watched Davey for a few moments before he finally noticed them.

"Oh, hi guys."

"Uh, Dave?" Mush asked slowly.

"Yeah?" Dave muttered, obviously paying more attention to what he was reading than anything else.

"What are ya doin'?"

"Reading." 

"T'en what's with t'e pencil? Oh, wait, is t'at one of t'e t'ings t'at Becky wrote t'at ya read ovah foah hoir and fix up a bit?"

"Yes." Davey looked up at his friends, eyes sparkling in admiration and awe. "But I can't find a single thing wrong. Or, actually, it's more like I don't want to change a single word, or even punctuation mark. The slightest alteration may ruin it, I don't know, it's just…" David stopped when he saw the others staring at him as if his hair was turning purple. "What?"

Blink ventured an explanation. "Ya just seem a lit'tle…excited ovah a poem."

"But you don't understand," protested Davey. Seeing Mush, Jack, Les, and Blink's blank faces, he made a grumbly sigh-noise in exasperation. "Never mind, it's hard to explain. Here, listen, and I'll read it.

Serenity

How long ago, so far before

With crippled eyes I walked thru these streets

On broken wings, of broken glass

I flew beyond my hearts control

I took the one way street, I drank the cup alone

This empty space we find, it's where we started from

And now we meet again, under these jealous skies

I'm scared of coming home, I only wonder why

Oh, It's crashing down around me,

(there's) nothing to hold me back

And I'll be found, sleeping at your feet

In this Serenity, nothing seems my own.

You can take the high road, and I'll be here waiting

The other way only goes strait down

And while I'm waiting, in my selfishness

I know you'll be here when I'm gone

You pushed me thru the flame, you saw me thru the storm

And though I cant explain, I'm always needing more

The roses at your feet, the same that pierced His hand

Alone I gripped this spear, to lay it down again.

*Chorus*

__

this is a real poem/song by my friend, and I absolutely love it! He was soooooo very kind and sweet enough to let me use it in my story, I didn't even have to beg him or anything! I love this poem so much and I had to share it with the world. So if you don't review anything else about this story, please at least write a review of the poem so I can send the reviews to him and show him that I'm not the only person in the world that absolutely adores what he has written.

"There." Dave said when he was finished. "You understand now?" The others nodded, stunned by the beauty of the poem, but there was one thing bothering them. However, at the risk of sounding stupid, each was afraid to say it. Les, being younger, curious, and therefore indifferent to how he may sound, vocalized what was on his mind and the minds of Jack, Blink, and Mush. 

"That's pretty, I think, but what does it mean?" Dave's expression changed to one of mystified agreement. "That's what I've been wondering. I can't figure it out, so when Becca gets here, I'll ask." Right at that moment, Spot and Becca walked in. They found seats next to their friends and Jack noticed that there was some kind of odd tension between his sister and Davey. Usually they greeted each other cheerful, but this time they both seemed to mumble a bit and they avoided any eye contact.

***

Dave felt as if someone had grasped his throat tightly. Asking Becca about her poem had seemed so easy in his mind. Normally, he wouldn't hesitate to speak to her. David had not been this tongue-tied around Becca since he first met her. Finally, he forced himself to speak, and when he did, Dave found that his old self took over. At least for now, it was as if last night had never happened.

***

Becca sat, squirming uncomfortably. She knew it was evident that something was strained between her and Davey. Becca wanted to talk to him, say something, anything, but she didn't know how. _'Why did last night have to happen? If only I wasn't no naïve…no, I just wish things were normal between us again.'_ As if he was able to read her mind, Dave spoke, like nothing had happened last night.

"Hey Becca, you know that poem you gave to me to read over last night? I've read it, and I honestly cannot find anything I want to change. Since it's a free verse poem, the rules of grammar do not apply to it. Even if they did, I still wouldn't want to modify a thing. It's so amazing, stunning, beautiful, the way you formed the words together. There's such feeling and emotion…it's fantastic." Becca was extremely sheepish, and it showed.

"Dave, I don't know what to say…that's so kind and sweet of you…thank you…wow…thank you," she stammered. Davey wasn't finished, though.

"How'd you do it?"

"Do what?"

"Write like that."

"Oh. I dunno. It just fell out. Kinda like a really big sneeze." (_note--when I asked my friend how he wrote like that, in reference to his poem that's featured above, that's the exact answer he gave me except he says that "it just falls out", not "just fell out", but I had to change it to make it fit in this context grammatically)_

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. I have no idea. I just wrote." Dave was somewhat taken aback. Becca, the one who was always emotionally-in-touch with what she wrote, has no idea how she wrote something.

"Okay," he replied deliberately. "Just one more thing, though. You've got Jack, Les, Blink, Mush and I baffled. What does the poem mean?"

"What do you mean?"

"What's the meaning behind the poem?"

"I don't know. I just wrote it."

"You don't know?" to the unaware bystander, it would seem as if Davey was outraged with a clueless Becca. The newsies, however, had seen the two squabble like this often. Becca honestly did not know what her poem meant or how she had written it, but she was purposefully milking her ignorance to annoy David. David was not actually half as flabbergasted as he acted, but the two continued their facade for reasons no one, not even they themselves, fully understood. While Becca and Davey were arguing, Jack was in the middle of a hushed discussion with Hazel, and the two of them looked at Becca and Davey frequently, as if planning something.

"How can you not know?"

"I just don't." Becca and Davey probably would have continued on in this fashion for awhile had Jack and Hazel not interrupted them.

"Becca, Dave, have th' both of ya eaten yet?"

"Yeah."

"Yes, why?"

"T'en," Jack grabbed Dave and Hazel grabbed Becca, "t'e two of ya have ta go have a talk. I ain't shoah exactly what's goin' on, but youse have ta woik it out, whatevah it is." Hazel and Jack hauled Becca and Davey up, leading them in the direction of the door.

"But--" the two protested unanimously.

"Go!" the other newsies shouted as a whole, pointing towards the door. Clearly uneasy, David and Becca walked out of Tibby's.

__

Please review and tell me what you think! Again, if nothing else, write a little review on Serenity so I can send it to my friend. Also, I molded Dave after myself and Becca after my friend, the author of Serenity, for much of this chapter. The way Dave reacts to reading the poem and the way Becca reacts to all his compliments is much like the way I reacted to reading my friend's poem and how he reacted to all my complimenting. I purposely buttered it up and took it to a farther extreme with Becca and Dave, although I'm not sure why, but I did anyway. So I hope that at the very least, if you thought the chapter was dull, you enjoyed Serenity, because I really can't say much more good about it than I already have through what Davey says to Becca, because it's all true. So please review!


	6. Confessions

Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Dave treaded down the street alongside Becca. "Anywhere in particular you want to go?" Becca glanced over at Dave, squinting in the sunlight. "It's Saturday, so I have the afternoon off, but you know that already. Why don't we go somewhere where we can get out of the sun?"

"Good idea. The only place I know of that's still outside is the park. That okay?"

"Sure, why not." Becca answered falteringly. A week ago, even two days ago, she would not have felt nervous about going to the park with David. Now, it was different. Central Park was one of the most popular romantic places in the city. Before, Becca would not have given it a second thought, she and David were just friends, after all. But now…were they just friends, or were they more? Becca wanted only to know how Davey felt. Unable to bear it any longer, she stopped him. "David, wait."

Davey halted abruptly. They were right outside of the park. He was hot, and wanted to sit in the shade, but the urgency in Becca's voice startled him. He turned with worried eyes to his best friend. "What is it, are you okay?" Becca looked at him with fright.

"Why are we going here?" For a second time that day, Dave was confounded.

"I thought you said you wanted to go somewhere out of the sun. There's a slight breeze and the outside will be cooler than the inside. The park has trees, and therefore shade. I thought…" then it dawned on him. "Oh, no, I didn't mean…if you don't want to go here we don't have to, I just thought it would be the coolest place with the breeze and shade. Do you want to go somewhere else?" Becca's relief poured out of every inch of her body. 

"No, that's okay, it is a good idea. I just needed to know if…" she trailed off, still not comfortable with mentioning anything even remotely related to the night before.

"I understand," Dave replied. They continued to stroll along the path until they found a nice shady spot underneath a splattering of trees. By this time, the both of them knew that they should discuss last night, but they were too ashamed, scared, nervous, confused, or all of the above to do so. All of a sudden, they both spun towards each other.

"So Dave--"

"Becca, I--" they both blushed and looked down at their feet when their voices clashed. After a few minutes of scuffing her foot in the dirt, Becca grumbled in agitation. 

"Argh, I can't stand this anymore! We're supposed to be able to talk to each other."

"I know!" Dave exclaimed. He sighed, and ran his hand through his curls. "There's just one thing I need to know first. Are you angry, at all?"

"No, I'm not. 'Least not any more mad than you are that because of what happened, you and I can hardly communicate."

"Yeah, why is that?" Becca shrugged.

"Got me. You're supposed to be the smart one."

"Oh, but you are smart, you're one of the most intelligent people I've ever met." Dave stepped closer to Becca, a gentle tone in his voice. Becca swallowed down a grin and replied.

"Thanks," but her amusement came through in her voice. It hit Davey that Becca had been joking about the smart thing, and he reddened.

"Oh. Well, not when it comes to stuff like this."

'Then we're both in the same boat. So I guess we should just start doing what they kicked us out of Tibby's to do: discuss it. And I think I know how. So, about last night, um…why?" Dave sighed heavily.

"I don't know. Logically, I think I may have an idea, but since when did logic ever apply to this sort of topic. But…"

"Dave, what is it?" Becca had a sinking feeling in her stomach, and she knew Dave could tell. David looked straight at Becca, eyes oozing with guilt into eyes with mounting fear.

"I have to--confess something." Dave finally managed to stammer.

"What?" whispered Becca.

__

To be continued…


	7. Working Things Out

Chapter 7 __

One thing--my friend (who wrote serenity) asked me to mention that it is a song, not just a poem. I know I used it as a poem in my story, but it is in actuality a song.

Chapter 7

"I had a crush on you," Dave choked out, stumbling on the words. Becca stared at Davey in shock. Followed by panic, then anger, finally a mix of all three. 

"You **what**?!" she shouted. "You have a crush on me?!" Dave opened his mouth to correct her, but she continued on, almost as if he wasn't there. "For how long? Is that why you practically kissed me last night? And is our best-friendship even real, or have you just been trying to get close to me? Okay, I know that sort of manipulation is below you, that you wouldn't do that, but I still need to know how long. Your crush could be influencing who knows how many of your actions. David," Becca turned to the blue-eyed newsie, who detected a distinct tremble of her chin, "what does this mean?" 

Davey placed his hands on her shoulders and moved her slightly so that she was facing him directly. "Becca--" he started softly.

"David, I just--" she interrupted. 

"Becca," he said again, more firmly, putting a finger underneath her chin and tilting her head so her eyes looked into his. "I'm sorry that I wasn't very clear. I said that I _had_ a crush on you, not have. Past tense." Something like a wave washed over Becca's features. In seconds, she was perfectly calm.

"Ahhhh, I see. My mistake. That's okay, then." Dave was confused. (_I know, again. I love confusing this boy. It's fun ,hehe *grins mischievously*_)

"So you're not okay with me having a crush on you presently, but if it's past tense, that's fine?"

"Yeah," Becca nodded. "Why not? It's not something you have anymore, depending…when was this crush?"

"When I first met you. For about your first couple weeks, maybe month, here."

"Jack know?"

"No clue."

"Definitely better that way."

"Oh yeah."

"Aww, but that's so cute! [in relation to the crush]" Becca was smiling in a shower of amusement. "Adorable, even, maybe." Dave flattened his voice,

"Thanks," he said playfully. Becca giggled back at him, but stopped abruptly when something occurred to her. A look of pure horror spread across her face. "David," she managed to squeak out. Davey rushed to her side.

"What? What is it, are you okay?" he asked earnestly. Becca took a few deep breaths, trying to calm herself. 

"What happened to your crush?" she queried, voice shaking. "Did it, I mean, it didn't, did it? Turn into something…more?" Dave's eyes widened in shock when he realized what Becca was asking.

"No!" he assured her, "no, that's not what happened at all." Becca's relief caused all the tension to wash out of her body, her muscles and limbs turning to jelly. She stumbled, and David caught her. He directed Becca to a soft patch of grass beneath the largest tree, and he sat down beside her. "Now, I told Hazel this morning what I'm about to tell you, so--"

"You talked to Hazel about this already!?" 

"It wasn't like I had much of a choice. She just showed up, and told me that I was going to tell her what was going on."

"That's Hazel for you," Becca commented with a smile. Suddenly aware that she had interrupted Davey, Becca apologized. "Oh, sorry. I'm done now." Dave smiled at Becca,

"No problem," and continued. "I had a crush on you from practically the time I first met you. But I understood that you were completely oblivious to my infatuation. I got to know you better, and found that I really liked you as a person, I wanted to be your friend. But I knew for that to happen, I had to put my infatuation aside, because it would only cause problems in the future and would prevent us form becoming close. I don't know if you noticed or remember or not, but for those first few weeks after you came, I couldn't talk to you without stuttering."

"Ohhhhh yeeeaaaah. I remember that. I didn't pay it much attention, and I must not have noticed when it went away."

"It went away when I decided to concentrate on just being your friend. I buried my feelings, and I guess they went away. I don't know what happened last night. I don't know if it had anything to do with the crush I had on your or not. I don't care as much about where last night came from as I care about what happens because of it. I don't want to lose you." David's voice became husky with unshed tears, so great was his fear that this entire incident might ruin their friendship. "You're my best friend."

Tears began pricking Becca's eyes. "You're my best friend too. I don't want to lose you either. So…why don't we just say that whatever happens, happens."

"So you don't care if…"

"I've never been one to compress how I feel."

"How do you feel?" David asked gingerly.

"I don't know. You?"

"As you said before, we're in the same boat. That must apply to how we feel as well. So you're up for letting things progress naturally?"

"So long as we stop that sort of relationship, if it ever happens, immediately if it begins to damage our friendship, or if it doesn't feel right."

"Our friendship is first and foremost, and if any other relationship develops, it develops, but only if it doesn't wreck our friendship. Or if it just doesn't feel…right."

"Exactly."

"We're settled, then?"

"Yup." Becca stood up with a sigh. "It's so comfortable here, but I've got stuff to do."

"What sort of stuff?" Dave stood up as well.

"Organizing my pile of poems, lyrics, music, and songs."

"Sounds like fun. Need me to lend a hand?" Becca laughed as Davey stuck out his hand. She grasped his hand and they shook firmly, laughing the entire time. When Becca tried to take her hand back, Dave wouldn't let go. Instead, he pulled her into a hug. "I'm glad we're on the same wavelength again. I know it wasn't long, but I couldn't stand not being able to talk with you, being out of sync with you."

"I know," stated Becca into Davey's shoulder. "I felt exactly the same way." As they started to draw back, Becca went on a wild impulse and brushed Davey's lips with hers. Dave stiffened and searched for Becca's eyes, his clearly asking what that meant. "Now we're even," she said, grinning.

__

Okay, I'm sorry that this was so terribly anti-climactic when I had this huge build-up. I didn't even mean to create the build-up, I just had so many different ideas that I wanted to fit into this short space of time. Once again, I'm treading completely new water here and have no clue what I am doing. Go ahead and flame me if you want, but please don't if you can't tell me how to make it better 'cause I won't have any idea of how/what to change. So…dare I ask…please review! *puppy face*

Oh yeah, I'm not done yet, so in case you were wondering, there is more to come.


	8. Discovery

Chapter 8

Chapter 8

David shuffled through the messy pile of wrinkled papers. "What's the difference between lyrics and poems? And how do I know which ones are songs?"

"Just put the lyrics and poems together. The ones that are songs say so on the top." Becca and Davey were going through a rather large and disorganized heap of sheets of paper--everything Becca had written over the past few years. They had been working for a couple hours now, and it wouldn't be long before the others came back from selling. Dave was so absorbed in sorting that he didn't even notice that Becca had stopped. She was leaning against the wall, knees pulled up to her chest, reading a piece of paper.

"Where does this go?" he asked, never taking his eyes off the clutter of papers. When Becca did not answer, he glanced up to see her reading. "Becca?" She snapped out of her trance.

"Oh, sorry." Dave crawled over to her.

"It's okay. What're you reading?" Becca half-smiled, reminiscing. "It's something I wrote the night after I left Santa Fe, while I was still on the train. I couldn't sleep, I had this itch. I was wondering why I had left. There was the obvious reason, to find my family and my past, but there was something else. After I wrote this, I was able to fall asleep. I tucked it away, and haven't taken it back out till now. I forgot I even wrote it."

"What's it called?"

"_Hands and Feet_. Want me to read it?"

"Sure, if you don't mind."

An image flashed across my wand'ring mind*

Another broken heart comes into view

I saw the pain, and I turned my back

Why can't I do the things I want to?

I am willing yet I'm so afraid

You give me strength when I say

Chorus:

I want to be Your hands

I want to be Your feet

I'll go where You send me

I'll go where you send me

And I'll try, yeah I try

To touch the world like You touched my life

And I'll find my way

To be Your hands.

I've abandoned every selfish thought

I've surrendered everything I've got

You can have everything I am

And perfect everything I'm not

I am willing, I'm not afraid

You give me strength when I say

(repeat chorus)

This is the last time

I turn my back on You

From now on, I'll go out

Send me where You want me to

I finally have a mission

I promise I'll complete

I don't need excuses when

I am Your hands and feet (am Your hands and feet)

HANDS…FEET…GO…GO

(repeat chorus)

__

This song ©1999 Up In The Mix Music/Andi Beat Goes On Music (BMI) _Words and music by Mark Stuart, Bob Herdman, Will McGinniss, Tyler Burkum, and Charlie Peacock Performed by Audio Adrenaline (yey!) don't sue me, I've got no money to take anyway. No copyright infringement intended at all, I just love your song and it fits this story so I used it please don't be mad. *This line reads "an image flashed across my wand'ring mind. The real lyrics are "An image flashed across my tv screen", but obviously I couldn't use that with a story that takes place in 1900, so I had to change just those two words._

"Wow," Dave commented nonchalantly, "emotionally deep. And you can actually understand the meaning, unlike other," Dave began to laugh as Becca started hitting him playfully, "works of yours. But seriously," he added soberly, "that was really good." He sighed, and slumped against the wall. Becca had slouched long before and now they were sitting side by side in Becca's quite muggy room. A pile of papers were scattered across the floor. 

Dave turned to Becca. He sounded utterly bored. "You wanna take a break? Maybe do this later? We could go downstairs, it's so much cooler there, and wait for the others to get back." Becca, who had been searching for an excuse to get out of there, agreed heartily.

"Sounds great." She grabbed her guitar and a handful of papers and followed Dave down to the first floor. They plopped down on a couch in the corner.

"Looks like we're back where we started," Dave muttered.

Kloppman walked out of the room, chuckling. Those two were a riot. He wondered when they were going to realize what was right in front of their noses.

Dave noticed Becca's guitar. "So why'd you bring your guitar?"

"I dunno," she replied lazily. "I thought that maybe if we got bored enough I could try and remember the music to these songs," she indicated the papers she had brought down, "and play them."

"Well, I don't know about you, but I'm bored enough."

"K." Becca pulled her guitar into her lap and began tuning it. "Pick a paper." Dave shuffled through the pile, waiting for one to catch his eye. 

"_Beautiful Sound_. Sounds interesting. It a song?" Becca checked the top of the paper that he held out to her.

"Yeah. Just stick it on the table right there." Dave did so.

"What's this one about?"

"I wrote it when I was travelling with the band. It's kind of loosely based in a weird way on my experiences touring. More like how I felt then, aside from the whole not knowing my real name or past thing."

"I see." Becca strummed an opening to the song, then began.

Turn the page  
Can't turn the light out  
Every word every line  
Carries to my soul  
Dark letters on a page  
singing so loud  
Where did I go wrong not to hear You...  
  
Fourteen years*  
I guess it was alright  
I let You do the thinking   
I'd just bide my time  
Father to son  
Sunday hand me down  
Where did I go wrong  
Not to hear Your song  
  
Chorus:  
It's a beautiful sound  
Movin' through the crowd  
Voices lifted up  
On high for You  
It's a beautiful song  
We've only just begun to understand  
Rediscovering You  
  
To have found You  
And still be looking for You  
It's the soul's "paradox of love"  
You fill my cup  
I lift it up for more  
I won't stop now that I'm free  
I've been chasing You

Like You chase me  
(repeat chorus)

(bridge)  
(repeat chorus)

Something tells me it's alright  
You know it's gonna be alright  
_Text: Peter Furler, Phil Joel / Music: Jody Davis, Jeff Frankenstein, Peter Furler, Phil Joel, Duncan Phillips © 1999 Dawn Treader Music / SESAC / Shepherd's Fold Music / Campbell Music / BMI / Admin. by EMI Christian Music Publishing / Oinch Music / BMI / Helmet Publishing / squizzmusic / ASCAP. Song performed by the Newsboys (yey!) Thanks to the movie Newsies, which I saw after becoming a Newsboys fan, I finally understood the name of the aforementioned band. Anyway, absolutely no copyright infringement intended whatsoever. I love this song, and it fits, so I'm using it, please don't sue me, all you'll get are some pennies and old lollipops. *Original text "Eighteen years", but since Becca isn't that old yet, I had to change that lyric to "Fourteen years" in order to make it fit, but those are the only changes I made._

***

Thomas was trekking along Duane Street when he heard the voice. He knew that voice. "Samantha," he whispered, before rushing through the door of the Newsboys Lodging House.

***

Becca finished her song to Dave's applause, who was about to compliment her when a man around Kloppman's age burst into the room. His salt and pepper hair was blown askew by the breeze, and his clear blue eyes searched around frantically. They rested and seemed to break when they saw Becca. He sped to her side, "Samantha," he cried. Then, reality sunk in, and he realized that this young woman could not be Samantha. Apologizing, Thomas got up and began to walk away.

"I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me. For a second there, I thought you were my daughter, Samantha. Your voice sounds just like hers, and you look exactly like she did when she was your age. But she's much older now…or would be much older. I'm sorry for bothering you."

"No, wait!" Becca called after him anxiously. "My mother's name was Samantha." Thomas turned around, disbelief and hope in his eyes. 

"What's your name?" he asked in a choked whisper.

"Rebecca Sullivan." David was shocked and perplexed. _(okay, I'm going to be the first to admit that this whole running joke with Dave getting confused is getting old. I'm going to have to find another way to poke fun at him without being mean. If you have any suggestions, feel free to tell me. J )_ Why had Becca told this strange, almost-eccentric, man her real name? Thomas, however, looked sorrowful and hopeful, disbelieving and joyful all at once. He reached out and placed a hand on Becca's arm.

"Was your father Rhys Sullivan?"

"Yes," Becca whispered, unable to believe what was happening. Neither could Thomas. He took a small step towards Becca, who flung himself into his arms. She could trust this man, he was who he said he was, who she thought he was, she could feel it.

"Then you're my granddaughter," Thomas said as he held onto Becca.

***

Spot walked beside Jack, Les, Blink, Mush, and Race on their way to the Manhattan Newsboys Lodging House, exchanging casual conversation. That afternoon, Spot had learned from his "little boidies" that the others had kicked Becca and Davey out of Tibby's in order for them to discuss things. He was eager to find out what conclusion the two of them had reached, although Spot hid his emotions well. Only Jack was ever able to penetrate Spot's smirk and view what was going on behind Brooklyn's eyes. Even then, Jack could never see much, Spot was a master at masking emotions. He had to be in order to survive and become the leader of the Brooklyn newsies. 

Spot and Jack quickened their strides when the Lodging House came into view.

***

Thomas broke his hug with Becca and gently pushed her back in order to get a good look at her. "Look at you," he breathed, voice thick with unshed tears, "a spittin' image of your mother." Becca's chin and voice trembled violently,

"You do know that Mama's…"

"Yes, yes, I know," Thomas stated sorrowfully. "They told me that I had two grandchildren, but they didn't know where they were."

"You mean Mama never told…how come I never knew about you?" Thomas's grief visibly deepened.

"She was young when she met your father, and he was sweet to her when they courted. I was never against romance, but I knew something about this man, he would only hurt her in the end. Your grandmother, God rest her soul, and I tried to warn your mother, but she was in love and would hear none of it. A stubborn one, your mother always was."

In the background, Dave smiled to himself. Now he knew where Jack and Becca got it.

"They eloped. We may or may not have given our consent to the marriage, but they never asked, and we never got the chance. I never saw your mother again. A few years ago, I tried to find her, only to find out that she was dead, husband in jail, and children missing, presumed dead. But now…" Thomas trailed off when he saw six figures standing at the doorway, but particularly the one in the front.

***

Spot laughed and joked with the others as they entered the Lodging House. He stopped dead in his tracks when he saw the figures in the room.

***

Becca was worried. Never, never, never had she ever seen Spot look like that before, not even after his family died in the fire. He looked like he'd swallowed a frog…no, too comical. He looked like he'd seen a ghost.

__

To be continued…

And one final thing, and hopefully this will be the last time I bring it up. My friend who wrote Serenity thanks all of you very much for your kindness in reviewing his song, and liking it, and you get the picture.


	9. Hidden Connections

Chapter 9

Chapter 9

Thomas hesitated for only a second before running up to Spot and wrapping him in a hug with a choked shout, "Sean!" Dave took this as his cue. He briskly walked to the door and ushered Blink, Mush, Les and Race, who's jaws were scraping the floor, out of the Lodging House.

"C'mon guys," he said in a low voice, "let's go to Tibby's. We'll catch the others on the way."

"But--" Les began to protest.

"C'mon Les," Dave whispered more forcefully, "I'll explain everything, or at least what I know and was able to gather, when we get to the restaurant."

Back in the Lodging House, Jack's eyes were wide with shock while Becca was doing her best not to join her grandfather and Spot in the hug. Instead, she walked over to Jack and spoke very softly into his ear. "Don't worry, I know what's going on. I'd explain it to you, but I think it's going to explain itself in a few minutes. Let's just go sit down." Jack, still having trouble processing what had just happened, merely nodded and followed Becca like he was in a daze.

***

Spot couldn't believe it. It wasn't possible. But he knew the face before him, and he knew the arms that were wrapped around him. Like a flood, a cascade of memories splashed into Spot's mind. Memories of his childhood appeared--nights in front of a toasty oven while his grandfather wove tales of mystery and suspense. Cool early summer evenings on the Brooklyn Bridge or Central Park skipping stones across the water or watching his grandfather wave a stick about like a sword as he told his young grandson stories of knights and musketeers. 

Once Spot recovered from the initial shock, he returned the hug. Questions could come later. And even the mighty Spot Conlon could not prevent a few tears from squeezing out of his eyes, only to be quickly absorbed by his grandfather's shirt. Only Thomas, Jack, and Becca would ever know of Spot's one, brief moment of emotional vulnerability. And that was how Spot wanted it. (Dave, coincidentally, managed to steer Les, Blink, Mush, and Race away from the scene before Spot returned the hug.)

Slowly, Spot and Thomas, his Grandfather Conlon, pulled back. "I thought you (ya) were (was) dead!" they both cried. Realizing they both said the same thing, Spot and Thomas halted and looked at each other in wonder and puzzlement.

"I think I know what happened," Becca piped up from the back of the room. She got up and stood next to Spot and her grandfather. "You," she pointed to Spot, "came back from our apartment that night to see your building in flames. Being only 8 years old, you fled as soon as you heard that there were no survivors. When, a few years later, you did some follow-up just to see if your parents had or hadn't been in the building when it burned, you found that they had indeed perished. You assumed that your grandfather died as well, when he evidently did not.

"You," Becca turned to Thomas, "came back from wherever you were that night and stuck around the building to see if any of your family made it out alive. Since many of the bodies were burned beyond recognition and they never found your grandson's body, you assumed that he died along with his parents. Your grandson, however, did in fact survive." Becca looked over at Spot and was tickled to see a twinkle of joy in them that she didn't think she'd ever seen before.

"Grandpa, yoah alive, t'is is great!" he cried. Thomas, however, was glancing in confusion back and forth between Becca, Spot, and the still befuddled Jack on the couch. _(okay, I take the whole Davey thing back, it's fun confusing ALL the newsies *grin*)_

"Wait…" he uttered gradually. "You said," he indicated towards Becca, "that Sean was over your house? The only person's house Sean ever went to was Frankie's." Jack visibly winced when he heard the nickname. He rose and joined the others in the middle of the room.

"I hated, still hate, t'at name," he muttered. More clearly, he added, "call me Kelly, Jack Kelly." Jack stuck his arm around Becca's shoulders. "And t'is is my baby sistah, ow!," he yelped in pain when Becca elbowed him in the ribs, "excuse me, sistah, Becky." A wide grin appeared on Becca's face.

"You realize what this means, Spot. This means that I'm related to you." She wrinkled her nose in disgust. "Ew. Maybe that's not such a good thing. Spot's eyes glowed menacingly, but they didn't lose their sparkle from earlier. 

"I'll get ya foah t'at," he growled, and began tickling her side furiously. Becca reacted instinctively (while giggling) and grabbed his arm, flipping him to the floor. When she realized what she had done, she knelt down beside him and began apologizing profusely.

"Oh, Spot, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, it was reflexes." Spot wasn't paying any attention, for something had finally sunk into him.

"Yoah what? But how?" Jack, too, realized what Becca had said.

"Becky, what are ya talkin' bout…how?"

"I think I can explain," Thomas vocalized. All heads turned to him as he began. "Sean, I do not know if you remember or not, but your father, Lawrence, had a sister who was only a year older than he was: Samantha."

"Yeah…I thinks I remembah hearin' 'bout hoir sometimes, how she ran away with HIM." Spot enunciated the last word. "No one evah mentioned who HIM was, t'ough."

"Your aunt truly was a good person, but she was blinded by love. The HIM you heard referred to so often was Rhys Sullivan." At this, Jack's draw dropped wide open.

"So ya mean ta tell me t'at as t'is time me'n Spot, n'Becky too, was cousins?"

"Yup," Becca stated. "Ironic, isn't it?"

"Ironic?" Spot and Jack chorused. Thomas chuckled.

"Ironic. It means something that is paradoxical, or puzzling. For example, if you were reading a story, and you knew something important about the story that the characters didn't, that would be ironic." He heaved a sigh. "All this time, the Frankie and little Becca that my Sean went to play with everyday were my grandchildren that I never knew I had. Everyday he saw the daughter that I hadn't seen in 9 years. It was right in front of our noses all along, and we never knew."

"Oh, sweetest irony," breathed Becca, then stopped. "Only it's not so sweet, is it? If we had only found out earlier…" she brightened. "Oh well, at least things are better now."

"Yes, yes they are." Thomas gazed around at this long-lost grandchildren, all three of them. "To think if I hadn't decided to take a different way home for a change of scenery, I would have never heard Becky singing…"

"If Dave and I hadn't gotten bored…" mused Becca.

"If, if, if," Thomas replied, "hundreds of little decisions and happenings that change our lives in the most enormous of ways, but now we're together."

"I've got a Grandpa," Jack pondered quietly. All of a sudden, he beamed and exclaimed, "I've got a Grandpa!"

"Yes you do," Thomas replied. They stood there for a moment before Becca nudged Jack, who didn't hesitate any longer. Grandfather and grandson hugged. When they pulled apart, Thomas spoke.

"Now, you have to tell me all about this name-changing business. Jack Kelly, hmm…though I must say that this "Spot" is most intriguing." The remark received full-throated laughter from Becca, Spot, and Jack. Becca took her grandfather's arm.

"C'mon, I'll explain it to you on the way. I want you to meet our friends." With jubilant expressions, the reunited family made their way to Tibby's.

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ahh, I could end it here and it would be such a happy ending…oh well. Tell me what you think, and I'll work on the next chapter.


	10. Beginnings?

Thank you to everyone who had reviewed so far __

Thank you to everyone who had reviewed so far! All your encouragement has been great, it's really helped me a lot! Note--I think that this chapter gets sappy at parts (just so you know) and if it is, please tell me and tell me how to fix it.

Chapter 10

Les groaned as the rolled over. He'd been sleeping peacefully--been having a nice dream, too. He heard shouting coming from the other room--it sounded like his parents and his brother. If Les was more awake, he would be perplexed. David hardly ever fought with their parents, not even when they'd sent their sons back to school. Les was awake enough to catch pieces of what they were saying.

"Your mother and I have made our decision!"

"It's not your decision to make! It's my life!"

"David, please, listen to your father and I. We only want what's best for you."

"Yeah? Well, the least you could have done was talked about it with me first. But you didn't even do that much."

"David--" Mayar _(did I spell that right?)_ Jacobs was cut off as his eldest son stormed out of the room. Les quickly closed his eyes as David entered their room.

***

David lay down on his bunk, but he didn't fall asleep. Instead, he waited until he heard his parents go to bed, then he sat up, tip-toed over to the window, and slipped away into the night.

***  
Becca tossed and turned. It was the middle of the night, and she still couldn't sleep. Her mind was whirling, still trying to process the day's events. So much had happened…and the most recent events weren't even the ones troubling her. Becca was ecstatic to have a grandfather, but even more overjoyed for Jack. Her brother had finally forgiven their father, but they weren't close. Becca wasn't sure if they ever would be. On the other hand, Jack was already opening up to Thomas, and they had only learned of his existence hours before. And Spot…when they arrived at Tibby's, Spot was back to his normal self, but someone who knew Spot well enough, his grandfather included, could detect a slight change. A somewhat happier…less-brooding air adorned the Brooklyn newsie leader.

No, it wasn't the sudden appearance of a grandfather and an old friend turning out to be a cousin that kept Becca awake. It was what had happened earlier that day. As if…as if they had missed, or denied something, or had skipped over, never gotten to something. Becca couldn't stand it any longer. She had to talk to Dave. Swiftly making up her mind, Becca climbed out of her room and onto the roof. Without a second though, she headed off to the Jacobs's building.

***

Dave paced outside the Lodging House, as he had been doing for hours now. He knew he was going to have to tell Becca sometime. Actually, he was going to have to tell everyone sometime, but he was most worried about Becca, how she would take it. His gut instinct was telling Dave that he shouldn't waste another minute, that he should tell her now, but it was the middle of the night.

Dave sat dejectedly on the front steps of the Lodging House. And it wasn't only what he had just found out that he needed to tell Becca. There were other things…some of which he had been aware of before but thought he would have time for later. Most of them, however, he hadn't been aware of till just now. How was he going to tell Becca? She needed to know, but the timing was awful. Suddenly, David heard a noise. He held in his breath, listening. It sounded like someone coming down the fire escape on the side of the building. Dave crept towards the noise, then spotted a familiar figure about to take off down the street.

"Becca!" he whispered loudly. She spun around, and looked for David, who stepped out from the shadows. Becca jogged over to him. 

"What are you doing here?" they both said at once. "Coming to talk to you," they answered simultaneously. Becca laughed with Dave, glancing down at her feet then up again.

"I guess everyone's right when they say we think alike."

"Yeah," Dave agreed. "Whatever happened to the opposites-attract thing?" Becca shrugged.

"Don't know." The two stood for awhile, waiting for the other to say what they both knew the other had come to say. "So, um, you snuck out of your house to tell me something?" Becca asked.

"Yeah, I did," replied Dave. "But, I think, maybe you ought to go first."

"Okay," Becca took a deep breath. "I, um, just felt like, I don't know, we didn't…finish today." When she saw Dave's semi-confused look, she continued. "I mean, I feel like maybe we weren't completely honest with each other and ourselves, we made it too easy to solve, not because we want to lie to each other, but because…" Becca struggled to put her feelings into words.

"Because we're scared." Dave finished for her. "We're so scared of anything coming between us, anything ruining our friendship, the one that we so value. So we'd rather just leave things alone and not change anything. But in the end, wouldn't that hurt us more? Because things would always be strained, we'd never be able to be fully honest with each other and consequently ourselves. There's risks no matter what we do." Dave laughed at himself nervously. "Here I am, going on like I know anything about what I'm talking about." Becca chuckled,

"That's okay. I feel the same way."

"Do you?" Becca's heart began beating rapidly when Dave's eyes met hers. She knew he wasn't speaking in reference to not knowing what they were talking about. She tried to respond to him, but she couldn't speak.

***

Dave hesitated for a moment. She wasn't saying anything--what did that mean? He searched her eyes, and found the only answer he needed. Slowly, Dave leaned in closer.

***

Becca was rooted to her spot. Unable to speak, she communicated with Davey as their eyes locked. The next thing she knew, his lips her on hers, and not in a brush.

***

Dave could not believe it. He was kissing her, a real kiss. He'd wanted to for almost a year, although he wasn't aware of that till now. Suddenly, Dave felt a lump rise in his throat. He drew back, "I can't do this." Becca reeled back, but quickly steadied herself.

"Fine," she said, voice shaking. She felt no drop of anger, only hurt. "I understand." She reached out and took Davey's wrist, pulling him so that she could look into his eyes. "That's your right, and I don't want you to do something that you don't feel. But decide--are we friends, or are we going to see if we're more? I need to know that much, and I need to know it now." Dave put his hand on Becca's face, thumb resting on her cheek and fingers behind her ear.

"It's not that, not that at all."

"Then what?" Becca whispered.

"I need to tell you something."

"Tell me what?" Dave gulped,

"This is one of those moments where whoever's in my place usually says, 'I should have told you this long ago', but I only just found out myself." Dave paused, chewing his lip. There was no way to sugarcoat this.

"David, what is it?" Dave gazed at Becca. Her eyes…they twisted his heart muscles. Now he knew why Jack had been so torn up when he'd given up the chance to go find her. Those eyes…so warm, loving, and trusting. And hurt, and scared. Right now, so scared of what he was about to reveal. He could see she knew that this was not some little thing, and it wasn't good.

_'Eyes really are the portal to the soul,'_ he thought. 

"David," Becca pressed.

"Becca…I'm going to have to explain this, and it might not make sense or seem relevant at first, but it is, trust me." Becca nodded,

"Alright." She could see how much Dave was struggling with what he wanted to tell her. It softened her, and she found his hand and squeezed it. Dave looked up at Becca, pain in his eyes, never letting go of her hand.

"For the past couple months, my teacher's been going over my test scores, and sending them away to a bunch of different schools. Well, a boarding school outside of the city replied. For the past week or so, my parents have been discussing this with me teacher, and they didn't tell me about it until tonight, and…I'm leaving in a week." Becca gasped. Not a throaty gasp, but like someone had punched her in the stomach. She looked up to Dave, frantically searching his eyes for any indication that what she just heard wasn't true. She found none. Nothing but the pain that he now shared with her.

"How long?" she managed to squeak out.

"I don't know," Dave replied, sorrow thick in his voice. "I guess from when I leave until a break, probably around Thanksgiving. But then I'd go back after that, only returning around holidays. I don't like this any more than you do, and I don't understand why I'm leaving so early, September's a month and a half away. _(note--there will be a reason for Dave's leaving early, it'll come into play in awhile, so for now just bear with me)_ I'm not happy about this at all, but there's nothing I can do." Dave's voice started to crack, and it was then that it really hit Becca--this was happening, and there was no way to stop it. Her vision blurred with the tears that poured down her face. David pulled her close and for awhile they stood there, saying nothing, both of their faces wet. Finally, Becca blew her nose with the handkerchief that Dave held out, then asked,

"What does this mean. In relation to…us?"

"I don't know," responded Dave softly. "I wish I could tell you, but I can't."

"What I know," Becca managed to say, "is that what we started earlier…I don't know now…I don't want my heart broken." Dave took Becca's hand and placed it on his chest, over his heart.

"Then know one thing. Whatever happens, no one can replace you here. Even if all we ever become is even better of best friends, you'll never be replaced. And right now, there's space here for you to be more, I want you to be more. That space may be there forever, may not, I wish I could say it will always be. But I don't know, because I don't know what's going to happen. But the part of me that loves you as my best friend--that will never go away, I promise you that." Becca tried to smile, and a small, half-hearted one, was all that came out.

"Thank you, but…not right now. I mean, I--I can't decide anything right now. I just need--need time. Not a lot of time, but time."

"Go, go ahead," Davey's voice was gentle. "Go back to bed, and sleep, then do whatever you want to do. I just need you to know how I feel. Becca nodded,

"Okay." Dave gave her a brief, tight hug, then watched her pull her leaden up the fire escape to her room. He stood there for a few moments after Becca disappeared from view. Slowly, with a heavy heart, he trudged away.

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K, if the closure that you want is the type of closure that I'm thinking about, then it will happen before the end of this story. But, remember, (as Shakespeare so aptly put it through Lysander in "A Midsummer Night's Dream") "The course of true love never did run smooth…"

If you thought this was overly sappy or not done well ( I don't know what I'm doing and I think it's sappy), please tell me, but then please tell me how to make it not-sappy because I won't know how to fix it and ergo it won't get fixed. So please review! (and be honest)


	11. Answers

Once again, thank you to everyone who's reviewed __

Once again, thank you to everyone who's reviewed!

Chapter 11

Jack was roused by a voice that hadn't woken him up in nearly a year. "Get up! Get up! The presses are rollin'! Sell the papes, sell the papes! C'mon Cowboy, ya gonna sleep yoah life away?" Jack sat up with a start.

"Kloppman?" The kindly older man chuckled at him and when on his way. Jack felt an icy hand of fear grip his heart. Why hadn't Becca woken him up? Even when she had briefly lived in the Newsgirls Lodging House, she had still got up early to come and get him up. Jack jumped out of his bunk and tore down the hallway to Becca's room, not even stopping to get dressed. Was she okay? Was she sick? Was she missing? Wouldn't Kloppman had said something if anything was wrong?

The eighteen-year-old felt a small weight lift from his shoulders when he saw his sister still in her bed. At least she was here, and safe. Yet, Jack was still extremely worried--was she sick? Becca was not the type of person to sleep in unless she really didn't feel well. Jack walked briskly over to the side of her bed and brushed a stray strand of hair out of her face. She was still asleep. "Becky?" he nudged her gently. She sat up with a cry,

"David!" Jack hardly had time to react before Becca launched herself into his arms and began sobbing onto his shoulder. Shocked, Jack enveloped his sister in a hug and rocked her back and forth, soothing her. 

"Shh, it's okay, let it out, it's okay, I'm heah." When Becca eventually calmed down, he put a finger under her chin and directed her eyes into his. "What about Dave?" Jack's voice hardened slightly. "He didn't hoit ya, did he?" Becca's face crumpled and she began crying again.

"Why--does--everyone--think--that?" she gasped between breaths. Jack pulled her closer.

"I'm sorry. I just wasn't shoah. Ise nevah seen ya so upset befoah. What's wrong?"

"He's leaving," whimpered Becca.

"Who's leavin'?"

"Dave, *sniff*, His parents are sending him to a *sniff* boarding school." Astonishment adorned Jack's features.

"When? Wheah? How long has he known? How long have you known? Why didn't he tell us befoah?"

"We both just found out. You'll see him today, he'll explain the rest, 'cause he's gotta tell everyone else." Jack held her a bit longer, then softly asked,

"Youse got today off 'cuz it's a Sunday. Do ya want ta stay heah, at least foah t'e mornin'?" Becca sniffed again, and nodded. "Okay. Do ya want me ta stay heah with ya?" Becca shook her head. "Ya shoah?" Nod. "Okay." Jack embraced her again, kissed her forehead, and left.

***

At lunchtime, Dave told the others what he had told Becca the night before (about being sent to boarding school). Though they took it slightly better than Becca, it was with a somber mood that the rest of lunch was eaten. 

Hazel's eyes met Jack's. The communicated one thing: go to Becca. For the sixteen-year-old had not come down to Tibby's for lunch. Hazel nodded, and quietly excused herself from Tibby's.

Dave watched her go. He knew she was heading off to the Lodging House to comfort Becca. He wanted to run after Hazel, drop everything and go hold Becca, tell her that it was all going to be alright. It killed him that he was the source of such pain to Becca, and he wanted more than anything to go and comfort her. But logic, stoic logic, kept him at Tibby's. Becca needed at least a little time alone with Hazel. She needed to talk with someone else about the other thing (the sappy stuff) that had happened last night. So Davey stayed.

Finally, Racetrack became fed up. "Aw, C'mon guys, it ain't like Dave's dyin' oah nuttin' like t'at. And wese still gots a week till he leaves. And ya hoid what he said, his parents are lettin' him sell with us t'is week. So let's put t'e sad faces aside, and make shoah t'is is t'e best week Dave could evah have. At least foah now, let's not let t'is whole t'ing hang ovah our heads and prevent us from havin' any fun." The newsies approved of Race's speech with cheering, whistles, and applause. Still, Dave couldn't keep from staring out the window and down the street in the direction of the Lodging House.

***

Hazel knocked softly at Becca's bedroom door, even though it was already open. Kloppman had let her in--Jack had told him of Davey's leaving, and the Lodging House owner had immediately decreed that if Becca needed extra rest that day, then she needed extra rest that day. Kloppman informed Hazel that Becca hadn't left her room yet, although he had heard water running a few hours earlier. But then, Becca's room was adjoined to a bathroom.

"Come in," said a weary voice from the bed. Hazel did so, and had the situation been lighter, she would have been amused to see that the voice came from a lump of blankets on the bed.

"It's 90 degrees out," Hazel vocalized. "I don't think suffocatin' yourself under all those blankets is such a good idea." Progressively, Becca came out from under the mountain of blankets. Hazel noted with concern how red and puffy her eyes were. _'Like she's been crying for hours.'_ Hazel didn't say anything, just wrapped her arms around Becca. Becca let her do so for a couple minutes, then pulled away.

"Hugs are all I've been getting since I found out." She pushed hair out of her face in repugnance. "Look at me, I'm a basket case, this is pathetic. I haven't cried this much since Mama died, and I was ten years younger then. And this is the third day in a row that tears have found an excuse to spill down my face. It's disgusting, pitiful; you guys must think I'm so overly emotional and weak."

"No, no, we don't," Hazel rubbed Becca's back. "For ten years ya held in emotion every time ya got hurt. Eventually, all that emotion is going to burst loose and come forth in a flood. The littlest thing can set it off, that's what's happening here, although some of the things that have happened ta ya recently aren't little. And it's not like you're always this way. Everyone understands. You're one of th' most cheeful people we know. You're also tough--not in a cold way or a street way, but in an enduring, independent way." Becca gave Hazel a watery smile,

"Thank you."

"No problem, that's what best friends are for, right?" When Becca heard 'best friends', her chin began to tremble involuntarily. "Oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean ta--"

"No," Becca took a deep breath and released it. "That's okay. So…how's it going at Tibby's? I'm assuming he's told everyone by now?"

"Yeah, he did. It's not going that bad. I mean, everyone's real upset, but--"

"But no one's blubbering like me, right?"

"I didn't say that." Seeing Becca's small grin, Hazel let out a little giggle. "Oh. Yeah, we don't have any blubbering down there, at least. Now, you have to tell me, how'd you find out so fast?" Becca hesitated, then related all of the events from the night before.

"So what do I do? If he was going to be around, there'd be no question. But I don't want to get involved in something that's just going to end in pain." Hazel waited patiently for Becca to finish, then offered her advice.

"I think it depends."

"Depends?"

"Depends on how th' two of ya feel. Ya said it yourself, that you'd start something no question if Dave wasn't gonna be leaving. I know ya--you're not th' type ta just jump headfirst into a relationship. Dave ain't either. If both of you genuinely care for one another, then it won't matter if he's here or in China. Sure, you're gonna miss him terribly, but you're gonna miss him terribly whether or not ya start somethin'. If you start a relationship and it doesn't work out, it won't be because of th' distance. It wouldn't have worked out in the end, anyway. That's one of th' things about starting this sort of a relationship with a best friend--a care for one another is already there.

"If it doesn't work out, it wouldn't have worked out no matter where either of th' two of ya were. Sure, th' distance may cause it to end faster, but it would have ended eventually anyway. Whether or not that's a good or bad thing--that depends on the person and their own point of view. I'm not saying this advice works for all long-distance relationships, but it does apply in this case." Becca nodded, and Hazel was silent, allowing Becca to mull over what she had said.

***

Finally, Dave couldn't stand it anymore. The newsies were done eating and preparing to go sell the afternoon edition. Hazel didn't have to be with them, but Davey knew he needed to go see how Becca was doing. He wasn't expecting her to have made a decision, he just wanted to see her, make sure she was alright. "Hey Les," his brother ran over to him when beckoned. "You wanna sell with Jack again today?"

"Yeah!"

"Jack!" Davey called. Jack walked over to the Jacobs brothers. 

"Yeah, Dave?"

"Can Les sell with you again this afternoon?"

"Shoah. Where ya goin'?"

"I want to go check on Becca." Jack was uncertain.

"Hazel's already ovah t'ere. And Becky wasn't feelin' too good t'is mornin'. I ain't shoah…" Jack trailed off when he saw Davey's pleading look. He knew it was tearing Dave apart to know that he was the source of so much pain in Becca, especially when there was little he could do about it. "Alright, go ahead."

"Thanks!" Dave clapped Jack on the back and ran out of Tibby's. In the back of the restaurant, Clover and Ebony shook their heads and exchanged knowing glances.

***

At last, Becca sighed. "Thanks."

"Ya know what you're going to do?"

"I want to make sure of something first, and then I will." Hazel started to get up. 

"Is there anythin' else I can do?" she asked. At that same moment, a panting Dave appeared in the doorway. Becca flashed him a tiny smile, and turned back to Hazel.

"No, thank you."

"Alright." Hazel gave Becca a final hug, and left. Dave came over and sat down next to Becca. 

"Hey."

"Hey."

"How are you holding up?"

"Okay. What about you? Gosh, I'm so sorry, I never stopped to think how bad this must be hurting you."

"It's fine," Dave assured her. "I'm okay too. A lot better now that I know you're okay." Becca nudged Dave in a friendly way,

"You're so sweet." Dave blushed.

"Thanks." Things were quiet for awhile as they both didn't want to say something and make the other uncomfortable. All of a sudden, Becca turned to the curly-haired newsie sitting beside her.

"David?" Dave looked at her. 

"Yes?" Becca gazed into his eyes, and found what she was searching for. Dave couldn't help but gaze back. Becca took Dave's hand and placed it on her cheek, the same way it had been the night before. Gradually, Dave leaned over and kissed Becca gently. Without hesitation, she returned the kiss. Before long, they broke apart and leaned their foreheads against one another's so that their noses were touching. In that moment, Dave found all the answer he'd ever need.

__

In case you're wondering what happens next: they're gonna behave themselves and have this big long discussion on Dave's leaving, what they're going to do till then, how this is going to affect their relationship, that sort of thing. Since I've already had a couple big, long discussions between Dave and Becca in this fic, I'm going to skip that part and just tell you that it takes place, because I think that in a relationship such as Becca and Davey's (actually, in mostly all relationships), in this sort of situation, there is a lot of discussing that needs to go on but I'm not going to make you sit here and read it 'cause I know it gets redundant.


	12. Wednesday Night

Note--that's not me talking at the beginning __

Note--that's not me talking at the beginning. Hazel is not an alter-ego of mine or anything like that. I just thought writing in first person might be a cool twist.

Chapter 12

Hey, my name's Hazel, but I think ya know that already. So you've been followin' th' story of my best friend Becca Kelly and her best guy friend Dave Jacobs. Actually, he's more than that ta her now, but ya know that too. It's taken th' too of them long enough, hasn't it?

Well, it's Saturday night, and Dave's leavin' tomorrow. Becca's doin' pretty good, hasn't cried all week. But I think we're gonna see some waterworks tamorrow. Who knows, one of th' guys might even break down. If it wasn't so sad of a situation, that would almost be funny. Anyway, this week's been normal enough. Th' guys say this is what it was like right before Ebony, Clover, the other girls, and me got here, with Davey sellin' and Becca 'round. Yeah, this week's been pretty uneventful. 

Oh, except for one thing. There was definitely one thing in th' middle of the week, on Wednesday. It wasn't all that funny when it first happened, but now all of us can look back on it and have a good laugh. So, here's what happened…no, if I tell it ta ya, it won't sound right. Ta really get th' full impact of what happened, you're gonna have ta read it for yourself.

***

It was Wednesday night and the newsies had decided to throw a goodbye party (casual dress upon Becca's insistence) for David at Medda's. They had the party Wednesday night instead of Saturday night with the reasoning that if the party was Saturday night, the mood would be too somber as Dave would be leaving the next day. Having the party on Wednesday gave them a few more days with Davey still around.

***

Becca was standing off to the side with Clover, Ebony, and Hazel. They were chit-chatting, basically having a good time. She'd danced a few times with both Jack and Spot, but had then retreated to the side to spend time with her other friends. In the corner of the room, Spot was talking with Jack and Davey. Spot glanced over to see the four girls off to the side. He nudged Davey, who looked at him. Spot jerked his head in Becca's direction. Panic spread across Dave's face. Jack noticed the two of them, and figured out what Spot was urging Dave to do. "Get ovah t'ere, Dave. Yoah hoir best friend and ya ain't even gonna ask hoir ta dance?" (at this point, Jack still had no idea that Becca and Dave were more than best friends.)

Spot smothered a laugh as David's panicked look increased. Jack mistook Dave's terror for something else. In reality, Dave was worried that he and Becca would dance, Jack would see some sort of "spark" between the two of them, and then…he didn't even want to think about it. Jack, however, was thinking something else. "What? Can't ya dance? Don't worry, Becky'll teach ya." Jack gently shoved Davey in Becca's directon. Spot excused himself, heading outside so he could burst out laughing without anyone wondering why.

Dave took a deep breath and calmed himself. _It'll be okay, he won't notice anything. Just dance with her. Thinking about it will only make it more obvious.'_ Dave approached Becca at a leisurely pace. He held out his arm, and in a gentlemanly voice asked, "May I have this dance, M'lady?" Becca stared at him blankly as her friends dissolved into giggles.

"M'lady?" Davey laughed at himself,

"You're right, calling you m'lady is stupid of me."

"No, that's okay," Becca assured him. "I'll dance with you, as long as you drop the M'lady thing." She looked at Dave and they both cracked up as they walked out onto the dance floor. _(I know Medda's doesn't have a dance floor, but just for know can we pretend that it does?)_ Hazel glanced over at Jack, how glanced back. After a few minutes of them both doing this, they walked over to each other and onto the dance floor. Clover dragged Skittery onto the floor, and Ebony rolled her eyes. Sure, she'd had plenty of boyfriends, but she'd never understood all this lovey-dovey stuff. She found it adorable in someone like Becca, but not for herself.

Spot chose that moment to walk inside. He'd been debating whether or not to ask Hazel to dance. Spot wasn't much for dancing and all of his girlfriends who he'd danced with hadn't been anything serious, but it was his way of apologizing to her for being rude last week. Spot had been acting less stony ever since he was reunited with his grandfather. And it was a party…but when Spot walked in he found Hazel already dancing with Jack. The Brooklyn leader observed Ebony standing off to the side. H wasn't sure why, but he found himself going over to her. She saw him coming towards her, and made an aggravated noise.

"What do **you** want?" Ebony grumbled, purposefully speaking without an accent in order to emphasize her irritation.

"I just want ta ask ya somet'in."

"Make it quick." Ebony's tone was flat.

"I want ta know what ya have against me. Hazel's always made it cleah t'at she won't fall all ovah me, but you've nevah given me even a second glance. 'Least Hazel will talk ta me."

"Ya wanna know why?" Ebony's eyes narrowed, as did Spot's. In fact, the two of them looked quite alike. Not in physical features, but in countenance. "I don't like ya. I don't like ya 'cuz I can't stand yoah ego. So, yoah t'e leada of Brooklyn. Jack's t'e leada of Manhattan, and he don't go actin' all high and mighty. I can see havin' t'e keep up t'e act foah yoah 'subjects', but ya drop t'e aihs 'round Becca and Jack, why not t'e rest of Manhattan? None of us heah expect ya ta be so emotionless all t'e time if ya don't want ta. And t'e way ya automatically assume t'at a goil's gonna fall all ovah ya unless she specifically says ot'ah wise, it's disgustin'." Spot's eyes glinted dangerously and his hand instinctively fell down towards his slingshot. Ebony merely glared back, her dark blue eyes scornful.

"So ya just assume t'at I'm an awful poisin, t'en," Spot replied.

"No, I know ya could be a bettah poisin, I just don't undastand why ya can't show it moah often wit'out Becca oah Jack havin' ta be heah." Spot folded his arms across his chest and smirked.

"I could be if I wanted ta." Ebony snorted,

"Shoah ya could. But ya ain't gonna, 'cuz t'at would ruin yoah precious image."

"Why would I bot'a? Ya wouldn't even give me a chance," returned Spot cooly.

"You'll nevah know t'at, now will ya?" Ebony spat out. Spot's smirk only intensified. 

"Will ya dance with me?"

"WHAT? Why would **I** dance with **you**?!"

"Be like t'at if ya want. Ise just tryin' ta be human like ya want me ta be." With that, Spot turned around and began to walk away. Ebony snatched his arm.

"Oh, no ya don't." Spot jerked his arm free and whirled around on her.

"What d'ya t'ink yoah doin'?"

"Ya asked me ta dance. I ain't lettin' ya back down on t'at."

"But yoah t'e one who--" Ebony cut him off,

"Shut up and dance with me." Grudgingly at first, Spot took Ebony onto the dance floor. But he relaxed when he realized that she wasn't going to bite his head off. _'She's a real good dancah,'_ he noted. About five feet away, Becca glanced over Dave's shoulder and her jaw dropped open. She leaned over to Hazel, who was dancing with Jack beside her. 

"Do you see what I see?" Hazel looked in the direction Becca indicated, and reacted much the same way. Clover waltzed over with Skittery and commented,

"That is so cute! But we'd better pretend not to notice or make a big deal out of it, or they'll both stop." The others agreed with her.

***

Hi, it's me, Hazel, again. I just wanted ta instert somethin' here. In case you were wondering, Ebony dancing with Spot wasn't what I was referrin' ta earlier. By the way, they danced a lot that night, but for some reason, on the next day, things were just as icy between them as they had been before. Go figure. As I was saying before, that whole incident wasn't what I was talkin' 'bout, although it did make th' night more memorable. However, th' event that really sticks in my mind as th' more dramatic at th' time and almost comedic now is what happened an hour or two later.

***

It wasn't long before David relaxed completely. Jack was absorbed in dancing/conversing with Hazel, and even if there was any noticeable "spark" between him [Dave] and Becca, Jack was sure not to perceive it. Dave leaned in and whispered into Becca's ear. "You getting bored?"

"Yup. But you can't leave. We threw this party for you and you're not going anywhere."

"So you can leave but I can't."

"Now, I wouldn't do that to you. But yup, I sure could! You know, you should go socialize with the others. We're getting too couple-y. Before, we could be around our friends and still enjoy each other's company. Now, I feel pressured, like we have to be alone. I don't like it."

"Becca, I don't expect you to spend all your time with me alone with me," Davey told her in a gentle voice. "This dance is almost finished. How 'bout when it's over, we go bother the others, or split apart and do something with other people."

"Thanks."

"It's fine. I was actually thinking the same thing myself." Becca let out a small laugh,

"We think alike, but we still haven't figured out that if one of us is thinking something, the other one is probably thinking the same thing." Dave returned the laugh. _(warning: sappy moment coming up. But don't worry, it won't take long)_ Their eyes met and the smiles faded from their faces. Suddenly, it was as if no one else was in the room. They drew together and their lips met in a soft kiss.

***

Jack was on the other side of the room, by the refreshment table. He happened to glance over at the dance floor, and he did a double take, spitting out his punch in the process. Jack flew to the center of the dance floor and slammed Davey up against the wall. "WHAT DO YA T'INK YOAH DOIN'?!" he roared. All other activity in the room ceased as every head turned and stared. Murmurs swept across the crowd. Some had their jaws wide open--those who didn't know Becca and Dave as well as others. They had never seen this [Becca and Dave getting together] coming. Closer friends of the two shook their heads--it sure had taken them long enough. Spot, however, didn't have time for such thoughts.

He, Race, and Blink rushed up to Jack and Dave, and tore the former away from the latter. "Hey, Cowboy, calm down!" Spot yelled, stepping in between Jack and Dave. Jack sedated slightly--Spot only called him Cowboy when he was very serious or angry. Yet, Jack still struggled a bit in Blink and Race's grip, all the while glaring murderously at David.

"Keep yoah hands **OFF** my baby sistah!" At this, Becca began smouldering.

"Francis Matthew Sullivan!!!!" she thundered. A hush fell over the room, bringing a deafening silence. Becca stepped in front of Spot and glowered at Jack. "I may be your sister, but I am NOT a baby. You know as well as everyone else in here that I can take full care of myself. I realize that you're being a big brother and it's in your nature to be overprotective, but this is ridiculous."

"But--"

"I'm not finished," snapped Becca frostily. "How many girlfriends did you have by the time you were sixteen? Did you even know any of them for more than a few days before asking them to 'be your girl'? Okay, so maybe I'm being harsh here, but aren't you? Are you willing to soak and possibly lose one of your best friends over something as stupid as this?"

"But--" protested Jack again. 

"Lissen, Jacky-boy," Spot cut in. "T'ink 'bout what yoah doin' foah a second. Foist of all, yoah about ta soak t'e guest of honah at his own party. Second, t'is is Dave we'ah talkin' 'bout. He wouldn't hoit a fly unless he had ta. Becca could be goin' aftah someone a whole lot woise, and ya know it. T'ere's plently of scabs in t'is city, and ya get mad when one of t'e best guys out t'ere foah yoah sistah starts datin' hoir. Do ya exepct hoir ta stay little foahevah? Well, I got news foah ya, she ain't gonna. And ya ought ta be glad t'at a guy such as t'e Walkin' Mouth is t'e one she likes." Jack looked from Becca (who still had a seething hue in her eyes), to Dave (who hadn't moved far from the wall and was standing, preparing for anything), to Spot, to Blink, to Race, and back to Dave.

The anger melted from Jack's eyes. He spit in his hand and held it out to the eldest Jacobs son. "T'anks." Dave spit in his own hand and shook with Jack.

"For what?"

"Foah bein' such a great guy foah Becky."

_'I feel like I'm being negotiated over, like I'm a piece of land or something,'_Becca thought. _'I'll just leave it alone, though, at least for now. If I nit-pick with Jack about this, he'll only get mad again.'_

Dave grinned at Jack, who clapped him on the back and walked meekly over to Becca. "Um, Becky…I'm sorry. I shoulda undastood t'at yoah growin' up and t'at ya can take care of yoahself, and yoah not t'e type ta go out with a guy just ta go out with a guy. Ya gotta really like him." Becca's heart melted when she saw Jack scuffing the floor with his shoe, like a little boy who had been caught in the act of coloring on the wall. She struggled to keep a straight face. 

"That's okay, Jack. But I'm really not the one you should be apologizing to." Jack turned sheepishly around to Dave, who was also trying, almost unsuccessfully, not to burst out laughing.

"Sorry, Dave."

"It's okay, Jack." 

"Alright, Jack," Becca gave her brother a light hug. "You're all forgiven. Now," she pointed to Hazel, "I believe you stopped in the middle of a conversation with someone and she's waiting patiently over there to resume it." Jack grinned and jogged over to Hazel.

The sixteen-year old sighed, and noticed that Ebony was missing. _'Probably gone to hide from everyone so she doesn't get interrogated about her and Spot,' _Becca mused. She went outside to search for her friend, stopping by Hazel and Jack to tell them where she was going.

***

Dave sighed and turned to Spot (Race and Blink had since rejoined the others on the side of the dance floor, and the party had resumed.) "Thank you."

"Foah what?"

"For defending me."

"No prob.," Spot playfully punched Dave's arm. "I told ya awhile ago t'at I'd back ya up if t'is evah happened." After a few moments of silence, Dave began chuckling. Spot looked at the curly-haired boy strangely. "Hey Mouth, ya alright ovah t'ere?"

'Yeah, I'm fine. I just thought of something: what if Becca really did have a crush on you like I thought all that time ago?" Spot smiled,

"T'at woulda been intrestin', 'cause cousins datin'…t'at's sick." Dave laughed, and Spot joined in. Then they abruptly stopped. 

"It's really not that funny, is it?" asked Davey. 

"Yeah," Spot answered. The two of them glimpsed around to see if anyone had noticed them. Seeing that no one had, the two newsies headed off to join the others.

***

Becca found Ebony sitting right outside of Irving Hall. When the black-haired newsie heard someone come up behind her, she said, "don't even bot'ah askin, 'cuz I ain't gonna talk 'bout it." Becca sat down next to Ebony,

"I wasn't planning on it, but okay." Ebony put her chin on her hands, elbows on her knees. 

"Hey, Angel."

"Hey."

"What ya leave t'e party foah?"

"To find you. Why'd you leave?"

"I dunno. I guess I was gettin' bored."

"Yeah, I was too, till Jack decided ta try and use Dave as a punching bag." Ebony laughed, then blurted out,

"It was a dare." Becca was confused,

"What?"

"He asked me why I don't like him. I told him why, and he said he could act human 'round ot'ah people if he wanted. I told him t'at he wouldn't, and he asked me ta dance since I practically dared him. It didn't mean nuttin'." Becca raised her eyebrows, but it was too dark for Ebony to notice, and put her hand on Ebony's shoulder.

"After the scene that Jack caused, I doubt that many people are going to remember. And if anyone brings it up, just point me to them and I'll take care of it."

"T'anks," Ebony smiled at Becca, who grinned back impishly. 

"No problem. C'mon, let's go make some mischief." Ebony's eyes sparkled in agreement. The two snuck back inside and crept over to the refreshment table. Becca grabbed a piece of cake. "Hey Jack!" The eighteen-year-old turned, only to be splattered in the face with an airborne piece of cake. He wiped it off his face, calmly picked up a separate piece, and pelted Becca with it. In seconds, the entire room was in chaos as pieces of cake soared through the air in every direction.

***

So that was Wednesday night. It was a great night. *wipes tear from eye* Sorry, I just can't believe Dave's leavin' tamorrow. He and I weren't super close, but I'm gettin' tired of losin' people…anyway, I'd better leave now. It's late, and tamorrow's gonna be a long day.


	13. Honorary Newsie For Life

Chapter 13

Chapter 13

The week passed by in a blur. It was strange--everyone knew that Becca and Davey were together, but the two of them didn't act any differently around each other than they had before. You could usually tell who was a couple and who wasn't, unless the couple was trying to hide it, which Becca and Dave weren't. However, there were no cuddles, arms around waists, or stolen kisses. If the newsies didn't know that Dave and Becca were a couple, they wouldn't be able to tell from the way they acted. Instead, the difference was on a deeper level. If you were near them, you could sense something different. Like a spark, but deeper. Yet, the pair continued on as they had before, never bringing up Dave's impending departure.

On Sunday, however, there was no denying it. Dave had to leave in the morning as it would take a whole day's train ride to get to Kingston, where his boarding school was located. Despite Dave's telling them that they didn't have to, the newsies insisted on skipping out on selling that morning to see their "honorary newsie for life", as he had been proclaimed, off. Dave might not be a close, personal friend to all of them, but each newsie remembered Dave's first quiet, then more confident, leadership from the strike. The newsgirls enjoyed Dave's company well enough too, and anyone who Becca liked as much as she did Dave had to be a great guy, they declared.

So there they were. The train was leaving in fifteen minutes, and all the Manhattan newsies plus a certain notorious Brooklyner were lined up at the train yards. Dave had already put his luggage on the train, so all that remained were the good-byes. He bid "adieu" to his family first. Dave still wasn't too pleased with his parents' decision, but he did not want to leave on bad terms with anyone. Nevertheless, it wasn't long before he moved on to the row of newsies.

David shook with each one, a dry shake, as Jack had decreed, to commemorate Dave's first day as a newsie. (Not to mention that it would be very unsanitary to spit-shake with over twenty different people.) Dave went down the line, exchanging handshakes, good-byes, wishes of luck, "we'll/I'll miss ya's, and "come back and visit often's" with the newsies. Finally, David reached Jack. When Dave extended his hand to shake with the golden-brown haired newsie, Jack took it and pulled Davey into a quick hug. (One of those guy hugs, where they smack each other's backs and never hug for long.) "So Dave, ya go and get all smart, smartah t'en ya already are, t'en come back and dazzle us with everyt'in' ya know."

Dave smiled, "I will, Jack." Cowboy looked around, and in a low voice, with a grin playing about his lips, added,

"But don't be gone too long, 'cuz wit'out my walkin' mouth around I won't have t'e right woids ta get all t'ese bums ta do nuttin'." The two former strike leaders laughed. In a few seconds, though, Jack sobered. "I just wanna thank ya foah bein' such a good friend ta all of us. Ya mean a lot ta me, and t'e rest of us, but 'specially Becky. T'anks foah bein' so great foah hoir." Dave nodded, and shook vigorously with Jack.

"I'll miss you."

"I'll miss ya too, Dave. Ya better write us!"

"I will." With that, Dave moved on to Becca. He took her hand in his and they walked off to the side a bit. Dave brushed her hair out of her face and cupped her cheek with his hand. Becca's eyes were glistening with tears that were fiercely threatening to fall. "I don't know what to say that's gonna make this much better," he told her softly. Becca sniffed, and Dave held out his handkerchief. Becca took it, blew her nose, and replied.

"Then just say that you'll come back whenever you can, and that you won't change too much. I know everyone changes, but just don't go scab on me."

"I will (_first request_), and I'll be sure not to (_second request_)." Becca's chin shook violently, but she managed to stop herself from crying, at least for a while longer.

"There's no point in letting ourselves get too upset, 'cause it's not like we're never gonna see each other again, or don't know when we're gonna see each other again. You'll be back in a few months, it'll give me something to look forward to." However, Becca couldn't keep her voice from quivering. Dave turned Becca's chin so he looked into her eyes, and in this way they communicated all they needed. Slowly, they leaned in and their lips met. The kiss began gentle and sweet, but in deepened into one of heartache and longing. After a few moments, they pulled apart. Dave's arms enclosed Becca in a large hug. This lasted longer than the kiss, yet they slowly, reluctantly broke away. Tediously, Dave trudged away and climbed onto the train.

Becca felt arms wrap around her from behind. It was Jack. Aching for comfort, Becca clung to her brother. When she spied Dave watching, waving to her from his car's window, Becca lost the struggle she'd been fighting. Tears slipped from her eyes and streamed down her face. Yet, she made no sound, much the same as when her mother died. Becca watched as Dave's train sluggishly pulled away. Once Dave was out of view, she buried her face in Jack's shirt, shoulders heaving with silent sobs. Jack simply held her, comforting her with his support, understanding, and presence. There the newsies stood for awhile, each with their own thoughts. Gradually, they started to trudge away.

__

Should I? Hmm, yes, I guess I will.

The End.

Alright, I know what you're thinking. But ending the story here instead of just another chapter makes the emotional intensity more powerful. I'll work on a sequel (I only just finished this today) because I know that if I don't, you'll probably hunt me down. Stay tuned for the sequel, which I've tentatively titled Growing Up.


End file.
